Baseball, our house, and a reward...

My handsome baseball players!!!

Ready to play some "serious" ball!
The House...our living room was a shade of green, and there were ceiling fans. Now, there is a new paint job and new lighting. The living room looks totally different.The Master bedroom... no decorative changes,but it is neat and clean. It is always the very last room I get to work on and has been cluttered since we moved in... Not now!Our major remodel...well sort of ... we ripped down wallpaper,tiled around the shower, and put textured paint on the walls. We added finishing touches, and now we have a great new look. The playroom...before...a total disaster (way too many toys)

The playroom....after...mom sorted,threw away, and marked things for garage sale(hopefully this weekend). We still have lots of toys,but it is much better.
The Big boy's room....he is 11, and well his room has never looked like this...

How's that for a title?.... We have been busy around here. All three boys played their first ball game of this season last night. Nate was so excited... he had been keeping a day count and then an hourly count yesterday. I couldn't decided if he was happiest about playing ball,or that his dad was the coach, or that there are three of his friends from church on his team. It all added up to a fun-filled evening for him. The older boys loved their game, and although they lost last night, they had fun playing. We have double booked games tomorrow which means mom will miss the big boys playing, and dad will miss coaching the tball team. There are terrific assistant coaches, so those dads will have to take over for this game. The daddy person in our family is in baseball dilerium! If you haven't gathered by now... baseball season is hectic in our family, but it is a passion that brings lots of fun for everyone in our house...the girls even love to cheer for their brothers
Our house went up for sale last Thursday. We have had showings everyday since then (except Sunday). Today we had the realtors tour, and we had 3 different showings. Unfortunatley, we have had no bites,yet. Please keep us in your prayers that someone will fall in love with this 100 yr old house and that we can sell it quickly. It is very taxing on the nerves to have to keep everything picked up and leave the house on a moments notice with all the kids... we had to be gone from the house all day. I have to brag.. my kids are so great. They have been so good at helping. They have worked so hard to help get the house in order and are working really hard at keeping things neat. They actually are learning to pick up things as they finish with them... I am hoping that it will continue on as a habit from this time forward. I had promised pictures, so I included some ... can you tell, mom was a slave driver for the past 6wks?
We have found another house that we like, especially for its size. It is in fabulous condition structurally, and the owners put such loving care into the home;however, it is in desperate need of updating. It was a custom built home in the seventies, and there are lots of changes that we would like to make( Of course, that task would have to be completed over time). If we sell this house, we will be able to make an offer on that one. The owners were an elderly couple who were planning on finding a smaller home. Sadly, the husband passed away a few weeks ago. The lady is wanting/needing to move to a smaller place with assisted living as her health is not good. So,please remember her in your prayers as well. Our house selling will sell her house and another house for her in return.... good for the economy, right? ! If we are able to put a contract on the other home...I will post a few pictures then... in the meantime,I hope you enjoyed the pics of our current house in its state of clean (I think it is cleaner than it has been ever).

As a reward for the kiddos, we took them on a trip to the zoo today. It served as a great way to pass the time while the house showings were taking place, and our kiddos love the zoo. In spite of the allergies making us lethargic, we had a nice time as a family. It was so nice to stroll at a leisurely pace without...an Agenda...and without having to "CLEAN". It turned out to ba a beautiful and relaxing day.

The kids are ready for their zoo trip... a reward of sorts... a field trip too!

The older kids began a study of Africa this week...

A favorite...feeding the giraffe... there is a baby giraffe named "Mia".Mia named this cat..."Cheeto"

Hey It's Franklin...The tortoises were all in good spirits today... we had fun observing their eating habits...The "princesses" were getting tired and were "very hot".... We have had a very busy and a very blessed week so far...praying for good news on the house soon, and staying busy ...